Nine Lives
by AsunaUki
Summary: Luna, Artemis and Diana... lovable cats... devoted guardians. When their wish is granted and everything seems right, hidden in the shadows lurks a new threat with familiar faces. Will the happiness remain or will sorrow take over in a black haze? Artemis POV, maybe Luna and Diana briefly. I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON CHARACTERS COVER ART CREDIT TO THE ARTIST REVIEWS PLEASE!


_Chapter One~_

30th Century Crystal Tokyo

Neo Queen Serenity stood upon her thrown, her moon rod in hand. Luna, Diana and myself stood a few feet from the queen, on one side of us stood the other senshi guardians who guard the queen and the rest of Crystal Tokyo. King Endymion along with the revived Shitennou stood along our other side. ChibiUsa stood just behind her mother and next to her father, her beauty already shining through at such a young age. All were smiling softly down at us, congratulating us. The Queen took a few steps closer to us holding her moon rod in her hands and spoke. Her voice even though having gained the wisdom and strength she earned throughout her many battles- the many victories, and the countless losses- it still retained the same carefree and joyous perkiness of her school days before she became Sailor Moon.

"Artemis, for your brilliance and quick thinking in times of crisis, Diana, for your kindness and willingness to help any friend when they need it most, and my dear sweet Luna, for your devotion and loyalty to your friends and family, I grant you all a precious gift. One that you have all earned throughout your selfless sacrifice in the name of the Silver Millennium." the moon rod in the queen's hands began to glow with a soft light as she raised it above her head, "I grant unto you…."

The light grew brighter, enveloping the whole room in its warm embrace. The brilliance of the power emanating from the queen's wand was even too much for Luna, who had seen it many times before. I had long since closed my eyes and awaited for the gift to take hold…..

Seconds…... Hours… Time had seemed to stand still, but yet felt it had passed all to quickly. I finally got up the courage to open my eyes, finding that I was no longer looking up at the queen… but rather, she seemed to be looking up….. at me! I looked to my left and saw an adorable small girl with gray hair with two odangoes on her head, and beside her a gorgeous woman with long curly black hair, matching double odangoes as well. I felt a hand on my shoulder and tore my eyes from the beauty at my side, to face the queen. Her kind smile putting me at easy almost instantly. "I welcome you all, my precious guardians, to your new lives..."

All around me, I could faintly hear the sounds of clapping and cheering from our friends. I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes, but made to move to stop them. I smiled widely as the tears fell and looked to see my wife and daughter also crying joyously, the same wide smile on their faces. I turned back to the queen and said exactly what was in my heart, "We're home, thank you so much Usagi..."

The clapping and cheering continued, my shock fading, allowing the wonder noise to reach my ears. Usagi brought her hand to my face and swiped her thumb under my eye, and smiled warmly, as only she could do, "Welcome home Artemis, welcome home at last..." Luna rushed forward and hugged Usagi fiercely as did Diana, both nearly sobbing in their uncontainable joy. Soon our other close friends came forward in a tight circle of love and warmth. Endymion stepping forward and extended his hand to me, which I graciously took and shook firmly, the Shitennou each clapping me on my back and shoulder. The Senshi were all hugging each other surrounding the queen and Luna and Diana, each having their own happy tears in the corners of their eyes.

This moment, this very second, was when I could say I knew absolute joy, the first falling in love with my dear Luna, the second the birth of my sweet daughter. Soon after, we were all swept into the courtyard for a night of celebration. Each Shitennou danced with his respective Senshi counterpart, the king and queen were lost in each others embrace. ChibiUsa danced with Diana, both giggling merrily. But I didn't notice any of them… I was lost in the arms of my true love. All the noise and celebratory chatter melted away, hell the whole world disappeared. I held my wife close and swept her around for hours, my feet killing me as I was sure hers were as well. But neither of us stopped the other. I knew that she felt the same as I- that this might all be a dream and if we stopped, the dream would melt away and we would find ourselves back in reality… I would be dammed if the past few hours had only been an illusion of my mind. But eventually, after ChibiUsa had fallen asleep in her father's lap, Diana came over to us tugging on my shirt and yawning. We both looked down and smiled at our girl,

"Hi sweetheart," I said as I patted her hair softly.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" Luna asked, bending over to pick her up and hold her in her arms.

"Hi daddy, I am mommy, can you both tuck me in?" Diana asked us and yawed again.

I hugged them both close and kissed Diana's forehead softly and chuckled, "Of course we can." Just then the queen came up to us smiling and spoke softly, almost a whisper, "ChibiUsa is fast asleep, I think she would love to have Diana sleep in her room tonight. I know they both never left each other for a moment tonight. If that is alright with you both?" She giggled softly, again reminding me of the same girl we meet when she was just a child, telling her she was our savior.

"Of course it's alright, Usagi we can't thank you enough for what you have done for us." Luna urged, still holding Diana whom had fallen asleep quickly, laying her head on her mother's shoulder. She still held her kitten personality, which was to be expected of course, even for myself and Luna. I turned back to Usagi and whispered so as not to disturb Diana from her slumber, "We are forever in your debt Usagi. What you have given us…. is beyond words of gratitude." Usagi, her eyes shining with even more tears, stepped closer and hugged all three of us tightly in her slim arms. "You all have earned this gift… thousands of years over. I love you all, I would not be the person I am today if it hadn't been for you." Endymion held ChibiUsa in his arms and stood and smiled at us from the entrance to the palace, "Come now Usako, let us let them rest. And Luna, Artemis please do not thank us...Debts do not exist among family."

We hugged Usagi back trying not to submit to the same tears but it was a useless endeavor. She smiled one final time at me and even longer at my wife- her dearest friend and companion, before turning and gliding up to her husband and daughter. We followed close behind, Endymion tucking in ChibiUsa, Luna doing the same to Diana right beside her best friend. We all departed the room closing the door softly behind us. Endymion turned to us leading us down a hallway, "There have been private chambers prepared for you and Luna Artemis. Your own personal chambers that you and Luna can call your own." He stopped after some distance in front of a door with three crescent moons inlaid into the wood, along with little paw prints trailing across the surface. Chuckling to myself, I thanked the king and queen, both Luna and I bowing respectively. We bid the them good night and waited for them to depart before entering into our spacious bedroom. Every luxury imaginable… lush drapes on the large bay window with a window seat, plush carpet as soft a goose down, and a large four poster king size bed…

Luna turned and smiled up at me, "I still can't believe it… we're human. It just all feels like a wonderful dream-" I abruptly silenced her with a passionate kiss, pulling her body flush with mine. Placing one hand behind her head and the other on the small of her back, effectively trapping her in my embrace. She was slightly stunned as my sneak attack, but in moments she returned the kiss wrapping her hands in my hair. Oddly enough, it seemed like we were both already used to each others new appearance. But neither of us cared, we stood tangled together for a few moments, the kiss steadily getting deeper and our desire for the other growing larger. Finally, we pulled back to catch our breath.

Resting my forehead against hers, "It would be really cruel if this was a dream… but it's not…Usagi wouldn't dare to trick us like this… She's loves you too much Luna to hurt you in any way." I smiled and rubs my hands on her upper arms trying to reassure her that my hands were in fact very real. Taking a deep breath and then letting it go after a few moments, she smiles, "You're right darling, I'm fretting for nothing." Her laughter as soft as wind chimes to my ears. _How in the name of Selene did I get so damn lucky to loved so deeply by this cat- er woman in front of me?_ This thought never failed to run across my mind. I truly was the luckiest man in the universe, to have a family of my own to protect and guard with my life.

But, as I held Luna in my arms, a sickening realization dawned on me… _Even though I was human and was capable of so much more than in my cat form, I still had my duty to the queen and to Minako- to protect them at all costs_ … My mind ever my worst enemy continued to torture me with this train of thought. _What if something were to happen to Diana or to my Luna? What if it came down to them or the queen or Minako?_ _What will I do if that ever happens?_

 _..._


End file.
